Blogs from Tucson, Arizona, United States, North America - page 2

We had had a tip from a couple yesterday to go to the Madera Canyon area, especially because there was a feeder area. It was about 50 minutes away, and we discovered some interesting things and not just birds: there was strip-mining south of Tucson – huge squared off “tubs” of water – that was copper mining. AZ is evidently the source of most of the US’s copper. And then we wondered why US Rt 19 was marking everything in KILOMETERS instead of miles???? Because the road was built right after Congress approved a bill to switch over from miles to metrics, in like 1974. When it never really “caught on,” and we kept the funny old English system, the locals loved it and fought to keep the signs. Evidently there’s a stretch of road near ... read more

We had a great final day in Mexico, ending it with one of the best meals I've ever had. We had dinner at the fishing port at Los MTZ, a family owned place with roots in Oaxaca...We had spotted sea bass, cooked on the grill, along with garlic shrimp and other delights... This morning, Bill and I went to the beach where I ran and swam in the tide pools. Walter fixed a greek omelet for us and we were on our way north again....I hated to leave Mexico, but we'll be back soon, hopefully. Puerto Penasco is known as "Arizona's beach" and the town fills up with Americans and some Mexicans every weekend. As we drove back towards the border, there was a steady stream of cars, RVs, trucks pulling dune buggies, and an occasional ... read more

Happy Holidays and 2021 in Review/Photos YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT - RECOMMENDED - THEN GO BACK TO THE BLOG OR GO THROUGH THE 34 PHOTOS - CLICK ON NEXT OR PREVIOUS IN THAT ENLARGED FORMAT. I PUT LOTS OF INFORMATION IN THE PHOTO CAPTIONS SO YOU CAN SKIP THE NARRATIVE, JUST LOOK AT THE ENLARGED PHOTOS AND CAPTIONS AND YOU'LL STILL GET MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU EVER WANTED. TO RETURN TO THE BLOG ENTRY, CLICK YOUR BACK BUTTON OR ON THE NAME OF THE BLOG - BELOW THE NUMBERS ON THE LEFT. As you have probably figured out, these travel blogs are a way for Bernard and me to keep track of our adventures. I can't tell you how many times we've referred to one of our over 70 travel blogs ... read more

SPIRITUALITY I’ll be boogered. The notion of spirituality has bedeviled me for pretty much all of my life. As a young child one of my greatest fears was being abducted by wild Indians, and later, but briefly, by Spanish Conquistadors who made me a slave. It was the influence, on my tender sensibilities, of TV westerns, and cowboy movies like The Searchers. One night, during my 15th year of life, I had a very vivid dream about being a mountain man chased by the Blackfeet across the wilds of Wyoming. During the chase I was forced to abandon my pack animals, what was left of my camp supplies, and two years of peltries I had been busily harvesting through perilous efforts. Some of the Blackfeet left the chase to gather in that bounty. As ... read more

We visited the Pima Air and Space Museum on Friday. It has an extensive collection of planes, housed both inside and out on the grounds. We had hoped to visit the giant Air Force "boneyard" facility, but you now need to get security clearance at least ten days before your visit. The Museum is one of the world's largest non-government funded aerospace museums. and features a display of nearly 300 aircraft spread out over 80 acres. "The concept for the Pima Air & Space Museum began in 1966 during the celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the creation of the United States Air Force. Earlier the commanders of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center the forerunner to today’s 309th Aircraft Maintenance and Regeneration Group recognized that the historic World War ... read more